Introduction

 Mediated Nature

 Sponsor Trap

 Generation of Extinction

 Archival Environment

 Credits

 About the Artists

Phagamys orthodon
Mus musculus muralis
Hypnomys morpheus
Hypnomys mahonensis
Thyrrhenicola hanceni
Pitymys bavaricus
Mammothus primigenius
Equus hemionus anatoliensis
Equus ferus silverstris
Prolagus sardus
Prolagus corcianus
Nesiotites similis
Nesiotites corsicanus
Panthera tigris virgaes
Panthera pardus tulliana
Panthera leo europaea
Felis lynx sardiniae
Sinotherium sardus
Canis lupus minor
Canis lupus deiesnus
Hippopoesmus sp.nov
Mecodema punctellum
Candibrervus ropalophorus
Candibrervus rethymnensis
Myotragus balearicus
Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica
Capra pyrenaica lusiesnica
Anthicus antiochensis
Aplothorax bunrchelli
Atelothrus transiens
Blackburnia insignis
Chaetotrechiana kiuchii
Disenochus micantipennis
Ishikawatrechus intermedius
Rangifer esrandus

 

 

The Sponsor Trap

Marketing significantly affects representations of the natural world.  In an era when most learn about the wild from television rather than from direct observation, the mass media's allegiance to advertising threatens all creatures that do not contribute to industrial consumption.  As habitats deteriorate, accuracy in reporting becomes less and less entertaining.  A few photogenic endangered species continue to be of some value in the calculus of public relations, but the light of sponsorship shines far more brightly on the escapist terrain of special effects, soft porn, gaming, and sports.

A parallel and related failure of representation permeates global trade agreements that barely respect human rights and leave other species to hang in the wind.  Corporations eager to ‘fast track’ the appropriation of dwindling natural resources continue to craft laws behind closed doors, while environmentalists are excluded from discussions by cyclone fences and legions of cops.

With the intensification of global marketing, the consequences of obscurity loom large over the voiceless, both human and otherwise.  In the economy of attention, every visible surface has a market value, and images of products tend to eclipse and supplant glimpses of flora and fauna.  This fierce competition for attention overtakes natural selection, and elevates consumption above conservation.  With attention trained on the daily spectacle, the disappearance of species proceeds apace.  Hardly noticed.

 

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